Airbrush



Feb. @949. 1. A. PAASCHE 2,460,529

AIRBRUSH Filed June 5, 1944,

IN V EN TOR.

Patented 1949 AIVRBRUSH y s f 'Jens Afraasciia chicago, 111i. VApplication-June 5, 194" 4,"Serial No.4 538,842

The present invention relates to improvements in airbrushes and more particularly to an improvedairbrush of relatively small size such as is used by artists for fine or delicate work.

In airbrushes of the type used by artists, photographers, designers, illustrators, `and others, it;

solaires. (Cnam- 134)l l' shown in Figure 2 as seen in the direction of the `Figure '7 is a detailed perspectiveview of an adjustable lstopfrriechanism provided as a part has been found desirable toY provide an airbrush f which could be adjusted, repaired, and cleaned without the necessity of returning the airbrush to the factory. In order to facilitate such servicing of the airbrush by the artist, it has been suggested that certain parts of. the airbrush be made removable and replaceable. In such airbrushes one of the parts most commonly requiring'attention is the needle and tip which control the sup-` ply of liquidorpigment to the brush. It furthery more has been found that the apparatus for controlling the needle valve when released has a tendency to close the needle valve with considerable impact thereby lessening the life of the needle and the needle valve seat. To reduce this` hazard it has been suggestedrto provide an adjustable stop so that ther control means might engage the stop to take up any excess shock which did occur as a result of an abrupt release of the control lever. In accordance with the present invention there is provided an improved structure for accomplishing these desired results.

It therefore is an object of the present invention to provide an improved airbrush construction-having replaceable parts-so arranged that proper positioning thereof is facilitated with the minimum amount of attention on the part ofthe person making 'the replacement.

Another object of the presentvinve'ntion is to provide an improved arrangement-l for micrometrically adjusting the point to which the operating means for the needle valve may move upon a return or closing stroke, thereby positioning the needle in proper position for only suicient color to produce as fine line asmay be required.

Other and further objectsV of the presentinvention subsequently -Will become apparent by reference to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing l wherein l y Figure 1 is a perspective View of an airbrush incorporating thepresent invention;

Figure 2 is the longitudinal cross sectional view of the gun shown in Figure 1; l 'Y Figure 3` is an exploded view of the parts comprising an improved nozzle or tip arrangement provided in accordance with the present inven- Figure 4 is across sectional vview taken across the assembled nozzle ortip as seen, in the directionof thezarrows along theline 4-4 of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a cross sectional view in the direction'of the arrowsalong the line 5-5 of Figure Figure 6 ls a top view of a portion of the brush vofthe airbrush shown in Figure 2; and

Figure 8 is a view of a protective cap for the nozzle assembly of the airbrush.

' *Referring to Figure 1 of the drawing there is shown an airbrush including a body member l which has a generally cylindrical or elongated configuration preferably tapered in its forward end'beginning at a shoulder I2. Adjacent the front end of the tapered portion I3 of thebody there is provided a tapered sleeve |4which in '-turnsupports an air cap I5. 'l A pigment cup I6 -ispositioned to one side of the tapered portion 513 of the body H. At the other endof thebp'cy j there is provided a longitudinally extending -handle which preferably also is tapered. As

subsequently will become apparent the handle: v|71 is hollow and a suitable cap I8 is provided to `close the opening at the end of the handle I1. At the ltop side of the body there is located anger button I9 secured to a finger lever 2| which passes through a suitable opening or slot22 to -theinterior of the body |I. The nger lever 2| is pivoted within the body I| so that it'may be movedrearwardly in a slot 22 seen at the top 7 ofU the body Adjacent the forward or front side of the ngermlever 2| there is seenY a stop member v24| which is arranged to limit the forward movement of the lever 2| when released Vand the o stop member is'adjusted in a position by a knurled operating nut 25. Depending from an interma.l diatepoint of the body. there is a generally 'cylindrical vmember 26 which terminates in a threaded portion 21 for connection by a coupling means' to ahose or conduit which is connected Yto an aeriform substance under pressure'. 1 The cylindrical body 26 as subsequently will become r`apparent. houses a valve mechanism for controlling the ilow of the 'aeriform substance."

Referring more particularly to Figure 2 certain details of the structure of the gun lshown in Figure 1 now will become apparent. The rear fportion of" the body 11 is bored out to form a cylindrical. cavity 28 so as to provide spacefor the housing of certain elements. Toward the rear 501' of the cavity 28 the body is provided with a threaded'portion 29 to receive a threaded end 3| of the hollow handle l1. The hollow handle I1 is provided with a cylindrical bore 32 so that 'space is provided for the reciprocal movement of certain elements mounted within the cylindrical bore 28 of the body A cylindrical' block 33 *engages the `threaded portion 28 of the bore'29 rearwardly vof the body The cylindrical .block v 33 extends K in reduceds'ize so as to form a'cylindricalmernber 34 having adjacent'its rearmst end a knurled portion 35 so that the member 33 ,may be secures@ .Position by the egerswlien the member 54.

`cooperates with the valve seat 63.

the handle I1 has been removed from the body I I n of the airbrush. The block 33 and the longitudinally extending cylindrical portion 34l are provided with4 twocoaxial bores of' diierenti diameters, a larger bore 36 extending a certaindistance from the front of the block 33 and a smaller bore 37 extending to the rear of the member 34". Mounted within a smaller bore 31 is a generally'v cylindrical hollow member 33 having its forward end an enlarged portion 39 forming a shoulder`4ll with the cylindrical portion 38. Immediately forward of the enlarged portion 39 there is a portion 4| which has a rectangular cross-section so as to fit into a rectangular slot 42 formed in a.: stamped` metal voperating plate .43. .The

stamped metal operating plate43 issecuredxon the portion 4l by a pin44. The rearendof the. hollow vcylindrical member`38 is providedwith a bifurcated threaded portion45 whichA is arranged to be engaged by a generally` cylindrical threaded clamping nut'memfber having a knurledoperating-knob portion 4l. The bifurcated threaded portion 45 when operated on by thecylindrical nut .portion :46. reduces the c-entral VVopening through that portion of the member 38 soas vto Aclamp into position a needle 48. ,A spring 49 .engages a shoulder 52 vformed by an` upwardly projecting portion of the member 26.

Thecylindrical member 26 is suitably secured tothe body H of the airbrushpreferably by sweating since the diameter of the cylindrical member 26 is substantially equal to a cylindrical bored. out portion provided adjacentthe bottom side .of the body li. The member-.Zis provided with a central bore 53 which is threaded so as to receive the threaded stud end of the adjacent ,member 54, the lowerend of which is provided with the threaded portion 2l for engagement with a coupling ring or union joint 55 of a suitable air hose or conduit 53. Immediately Iadjacent the lower end of the cylindrical member "26 there is provided a bore of increased sizeso as to provide an annular passage"'51when the shoulder portion of the adjacent member 54 is r securely screwed upwardly intofposition. ^The annular passage 57 is in communication with a transversely extending aeriform passage"59vin The transverse aeriform passage 59 communicates with a central bore 6I in the upper threaded portion 53 ofy the member 54. The lower portion of the member 54 is provided with a central bore of larger diameter B2 thereby to provide a shoulder portion against Vwhich is positioned a valve seat member 63. The lower extremity of the bore 62 is threaded so vas to receive an apertured threaded stop mem- Aber 64 which may be recessed so. as to receive one end of a compression spring 65, the other end of which engages a valve head 66 which The valve head 66 is connected to a valve stem ,61 which extends upwardly into an aperture `in a cylindrical member 38 which is secured tothe lower "end of the iinger lever 29 which lis suitably 4bifurcated so as to be attachedy thereto by a member such as a' rivet. A'1he-1ingerfbutton i9 when I pushed downwardly will cause the lower cylindrical member 28 to move the valve head 6B ...away from.theiyalve.seat..63thereby Ato permit waneaeriformigsubstanc rom the.i hose` or passage 56 to enterthe'cylindrical bore or passage'62,

i to pass through the valve opening in the seat B3 into the bore 51| which is in communication with ...the passage 56 which in turn is in communical"form-passagesffii fifwhich xextendftoethe foremost tion with the annular bore 51. The aeriiorm substance thereupon enters the passage 5B which .fine-.turn isnincommunicationv with one or more generally longitudinally extending passages in the forward portion of. the body Il.

The forward portioniof the body l l is provided witheoneJ-or -more-longitudinallyextending-.aeriextremity "of f lthe bodyl Si Imvhiclr terminates-dn. a threaded portionl-fi l `which iig. adapted'fgto :be i engaged' by fthe r1coopera-ting s internallyziztfhreaded portion of the sleeveffll. -The/fbodylrl tais alsofplovided with a cen-tralbore' 172 in'which-` the forward vportion of theineedlefdfmay-fmove. Adjacentrthe forward end of the' body Il' atcentralf/borezfl'...is

-joined by a bore of increasedrdiameters3awhich 25l is arranged Afor communicationalwith actran'sverse i passage connected to a tubi-:174.whichr-extendsim to the fluid or'pigmentcuplf .The tubefmiextend-s downwardly v.to afpoint; closely. adjacent :the

wbottom ofthe-cup 46 i'so aseftolrprovide.aifsiphon The upper` end of action toV supplyvifluid: orarpigmenti .torathebore when the airbrush is yinfoperation. uIn order. that the cup v'i3 may be readily ;.icleaned: :thezbottom thereof is provided with a threaded capunwhich may be removed.

11n. accordance with one .feature-:of the present invention the forwardxendfofnthe. airbrush` is: provided with a sleeve :|41 whichfmay. have aknurled portion i5 whereby 'thesleeve :may tbe-:readily Agrasped with the fingers;forwremoyingaand:replacing the sleeve. .Adjacentythe,-knurledrportionl5 the insidefof-thesleeve iltis'provided with a threaded portion-iorrengagingfthegforward'end 'H` of `the' bodyv Il. 1- This fengagementgof'ethe l threaded portionof the sleevewlll Vwithtllethreaded 'forward end of.the'bcfly1H.- is so: arrangedfthat .whenl thesleeyel is inf-position: aismall annular .space Ais left tozprovide ..-an. .annularepaSs-age .15. The sleeve i4 between.;-itszinner Landf;outer.sur :faces vis provided with apluralityfot'longitudinally extending passages l?t which maybe positioned vat equal angulardisplacementsastis apparent fromthe cross sectional viewshown in'LFigurefi.

- The forward end ofgthe sleeve lligris.'*providedy with a .threaded portion flrorfrreceivingtthe internally threaded portionfof the airfcapelii. @The .air cap l5 is provided: with;r a@ conical internalzf'bore F9 which :j oins withthe concaveportion 8! which @preferably is airllsto-conicalsurace although it mayalso be ofy 4some :other congurationfsuchas a slightly concave surface. It will be seenxfrom the drawing that vthe for-wardwendfofftherneedle 48 projects into the vforiward-cavity.-85 lofthe air The inner surf-ace 'lllfofithesleevetlllis afirus- `tum of a icone' which is .complementary-:tothe forv ward frusto-conical suri-acc-2zoff ai needle valve` seat or'tipif3. ,'"Thevzouterfponguration ofithe self centering needle valve tip 83 iscomposedzof two coaxial frusto#conicalJsection-s, #and 'the 'inner Mbore" 34 fterminates fin a`-y frustoconical' ysurface complementary to the :conical v'surface at' the: forward end of thenne'e'dlell. The rear truste-'confic'al surface-85 of the memberL-'Bzis arrangedeto engage a complementary frusto-conical surface 13. The sleeve i4 therefore together with the cooperating frusto-conical surface adjacent the end of the body il operates to engage the outer frusto-conical surface of the self centering tip 85 so as -to properly position this tip with respect to the body Il and the needle 48. The self centering tip 83 generally is formed of a metal somewhat harder than the metal from which the body Il is made, as the body quite commonly is made of brass. The needle 48 qui-te obviously is formed of steel.

In order that the needle 48 will not engage the inner surface of the centering tip 83 with such force as to produce undue wear or deformation of the inner surface of the tip 83 or the outer surface of the forward end of Ithe needle 48, there is provided a mlcrometrically adjustable stop 2li which is arranged .at right angles to a longitudinally extending member 85 the rearward portion 81 of which is provided with suitable threads for engagement by the knurled adjusting nut 25. The adjusting nut 25 is positioned in a slotted opening 88 as may be seen from Figure 6. In order that the position of the knurled nut 25 be maintained xed during the operation of the gun so as to not disturb the micrometric adjustment of the -stop member 24, the inside of the nut 25 is bored out so as to provide a cavity 89 within which is positioned a coil spring 9| and a cup shaped member 92. The spring 9i therefore engages the inside surface of the cavity 89 in :the knurled member 25 and the inside su-rface of the cup shaped member 92 thereby to urge these members away from each other and into an engagement with the walls of lthe slot 88 formed in the body member Il. The body member Il of course is provided w'th a suitable longitudinally extending passage 90 in which is positioned the longitudinally extending member 86 having a threaded terminal 81. l

In operation the operator of the airbrush applies finger pressure to the finger cap I9 so as to move the nger lever 2l downwardly thereby to admit air to the nozzle and rearwardly moves the lever 2l so as to cause the member 38 which grips the needle 48 to move the needle rearwardly away from the centering tip 85 so as to permit iiuid from the passage 13 to surround the forward end of the needle 48 and to pass through the opening at the end of the centering tip 83, which end projects slightly into the forward cavity 8| of the air tip I5. l

A fluid or pigment cup I5 has an inverted frusto-conical shape provided with a threaded cap 69 which preferably has a concave bottom surface so that when the cup i6 and the attached conduit 'Mare removed from the body Il of the airbrush, the cup I6 may be placed on the surface of a table. By having the underside of the knurled nut or cap portion 60 concave, rthe cup will be supported in a relatively stable manner.

In order to protect the air tip or nozzle assembly there may be provided a readilyremovable cap 95 such as shown in Figures 8 and 6. This cap therefore will protect the nozzle assembly from dust and dirt during periods of nonuse.

While I have shown and described a particular embodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that I do not wish to be limited theretoY since obviously such variations may be made that are commensurate with the scope of the appended 1'. An airbrush of the type described comprising `an elongated body having a passage for a 6 needle, a needle mounted in said passage for longitudinal movement therein, spring means biasing said needle in one direction, a pivoted finger operated lever for moving said needle in opposition to said spring, and means for micrometrically predetermining the limit of movement of said needle by said spring, said means comprising a transverse slot formed in said body in the proximity of said lever, a longitudinal passage intersected by said slot, a threaded member mounted in said longitudinal passage and adapted to engage at one en d said lever', a cup shaped nut mounted in said slot and on said threadedmember, a cup shaped member mounted within said nut to form av closed chamber and a spring housed within said chamber to urge said latter cup and said nut into frlctional engagement with the walls of said slot thereby to retain said nut and said threaded member in an adjusted position. f

2. In a device of the character described, a body member formed with a passage for a needle valve, a spring for biasing the valve to seated position, a pivoted finger operated lever for moving the valve to open position against the action of the spring, a threaded stop positioned within saidrbody member for longitudinal movement therein having a portion adapted to engage the pivoted lever to limit its motion in one direction, a transverse4 slot formed in said body member and a nut positioned in said slot in threaded engagement with said stop for adjusting its longitudinal position.

3. A device as in claim 2 including in combination means for frictionally holding the nut in adjusted position.

4. An airbrush of the type described comprising an elongated body having a passage for a valve needle, a valve needle mounted in said passage for longitudinal movement therein, spring means urging said valve needle in one direction, a pivoted linger operated lever for moving said valve needle in opposition to said spring, and means for micro-metrically pre-determining the limit of movement of said valve needle by said spring, said means comprising a transverse slot formed in said body in the proximity of said lever, a longitudinal passage intercepted by said slot, a threaded member mounted in said longitudinal passage and adapted to engage at one end said lever, and a nut mounted in said slot, said nut being rotatably mounted on said threaded member.

JENS A. PAASCHE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 767,510 Wold Aug. 16, 1904 879,891 Raasche Feb. 25, 1908 1,017,358 Wold I Feb. 13, 1912 1,270,553 Rouge June 25, 1918 1,299,290 Berg Apr. 1, 1919 1,660,359 Schneider Feb. 28, 1928 1,703,359 Paasche Feb. 26, 1929 1,728,756 Hansen -v Sept. 17, 1929 1,746,055 Roberts 1 Feb. 4, 1930 1,939,607 Krautzbergei Dec. 12, 1933 2,005,771 Bull June 25, 1935 2,009,920 Grewe July 30, 1935 

